What makes evil people evil? What makes good people good?
by zman123
Summary: Following the loss of her one true friend Chibi-Usa, a desperately lonely Hotaru Tomoe seeks out company in the unlikely form of shy bookworm Ami Mizuno. A simple conversation quickly delves into a deep and complex intellectual debate about the true nature of good and evil as well as whether some secrets should really remain secrets.


**Evil Powers can be a force for good. **

Ever since the untimely death of her mother in that terrible accident she wished never to think about ever again, the scientifically inclined man she called daddy had never been the same again.

He spent his days cooped up in that creepy room in the cellar he called "the top secret research centre".  
And even Hotaru as his daughter was strictly forbidden to enter.

With Chibi-Usa returned to her own time in the future now that the disaster she had come back to the past to prevent had been averted, Hotaru had been thrown even further into the chasm of loneliness.

It had really gotten so bad that she was beginning to say whatever came to mind to herself and not able to stop speaking even when no one was in the same room as her.  
It had to stop.

The purple haired girl had been learning from the self-motivational videos she had been finding that the best cure for the monotony of loneliness was to leave one's comfort zone if even for only a short while in search of company.

Any company that one could feel comfortable and at ease around. Best to start small.

Hotaru had considered many options of who she would seek out for a good, friendly conversation to while away the terrible boredom being the daughter of an overworked scientist brought.

Usagi was nice, but also very overzealous in taking control of every conversation and too much of a motormouth for the young introvert just learning the art of socialization to stomach well just yet.

Butterflies welled up in Hotaru's stomach simply wondering how that talk between them two would go if she were to try that.

Rei and Makoto had fearsome tempers and even if Hotaru understood their intentions were only noble, their seemingly never abating inner rages were still too off putting.  
In Rei's case her eyes seemed to blaze with an inner fire and for Makoto, every gesture of her body was charged with the intensity of thunder.

The last thing she wanted was a knuckle sandwich for lunch. Those two feisty heroines could save those for the next demon they came across.

Venus was warm and loving being the goddess of love and all, yet just as Hotaru was about to mark her as the chosen companion for her first self-initiated formal conversation, a voice deep inside her told her that an aspiring idol who lived on constant search for attention probably wouldn't have what it took for any serious intellectual discussion which was the type of conversation Hotaru was hoping to have.

And it went without saying that mummy Setsuna and her two friends Michiru and Haruka were busy as always with matters of life and death and trying to contact them was out of the question completely.

The image of a gently smiling girl dressed tidily in school uniform with short blue hair and a thick book in hand had flashed past her mind as her final idea had gone out the window.

Such mildness and serenity, Hotaru had remarked as the mental image had faded away.  
Such untold wisdom in those shining blue eyes.  
Not a tint of irrational anger anywhere and a great listener who was probably the only person who could hope to understand the struggle of being a socially awkward introvert as well as she could.

Truly an angel among angels, an archangel as her late mother would have put it.

It was here where calm settled upon the angsty and nervous pre-teen once again.  
Ami Mizuno. Even the name sounded like a little slice of heaven. 

And to make matters even better, finding her would be a piece of cake unlike her other more elusive friends.

There really was just one place a friendly bookworm could be at this time of a beautiful, peaceful Saturday. It was a tranquil and easy to access location as well as one of the few parts of the bustling city in which even Hotaru felt at home in.

The city library was not difficult to find.  
A quick walk along a quiet riverbank where not many people were passing by even on a pleasant sunny day and there she was.

The inside of the building was very lonely. Despite shelf upon shelf of colourful and attractive looking books, Hotaru was surprised to find that the only person inside was a bored looking young librarian behind a desk who seemed on the verge of falling into asleep.

It was not until Hotaru had headed to the very back of the very top floor in a difficult to spot corner behind a labyrinth of fully stacked shelves that she had found her quarry.

A blue haired girl dressed modestly in a school uniform despite the day of the week, completely absorbed in yet another book at a desk.

She seemed so concentrated and focused upon whatever must have been written in those pages of wisdom that for a moment Hotaru thought about backing out and forgetting her idea of trying to carry out her first self-initiated conversation and trying again another day.

It was the terrible image of Chibi-Usa's back turned to her as her young pink haired friend walked out her bedroom door with back turned which reinvigorated Hotaru's resolve.

With one fist clenched in a gesture of extreme courage, she delicately stepped up to the blue haired girl and gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder.

She quickly took a step back as with a start, the recipient of her sudden signal turned to face her with a surprised yet concerned expression which emanated empathy and caring in their most deep forms.

"Hotaru?" came the quiet, shy voice of the star student Ami Mizuno. It was a melodious and soft sound which invited confidence without demanding it and Hotaru loved it so much.

"Yes, it's me." She replied, careful to keep her voice down because of the building they were both inside  
"I…" it took a moment for her to form the words that felt right. "I need your help."

Years spent as a mistreated hermit abandoned by her father and being raised by an abusive caretaker who constantly gaslighted her made each word she said to Ami a struggle and she constantly shook as she tried without much success to look her listener in the eyes.

She hoped she wasn't seeming too impolite. She had after all interrupted what must have been a lovely reading session of an even lovelier book. But this had to be done.

"Oh, what is it?" Once again, such pleasantry and encouragement in the exuberant tonality of an angel. The complete opposite of her caretaker's condescending and nasal voice waves of mockery which made her want to block her ears each time that woman spoke.

"I' I'm very lonely. I Just, I just really wanted someone to talk to. Please."

Those words bit her lips even as they left her mouth. This was not how Hotaru had seen Ami's other friends talking to each other and she once again prayed she wasn't sounding like a complete klutz.

But Ami seemed to sympathize at this bizarrely worded request and her expression soon turned to one of great worry and friendly concern.

Perhaps this girl should have been Princess Serenity instead, Hotaru silently quipped to herself as Ami's reply quickly sent her usually dour mood to cloud nine.

Every word sounded too good to be true.

"Of course, Hotaru. I might not be able to do as much as Usagi, but of course we can talk for a bit. Let's just head out somewhere and then we can talk about anything you want."

The sheer joy which was bringing tears out of Hotaru's usually bleak eyes made it impossible for her to speak and she only nodded cheerfully as the two girls walked together down the stairs and out of the library.

They wandered together for a bit until Ami pointed out a pleasant looking if slightly old-fashioned little Café on the other side of the empty street and the two of them walked inside.

Ami ordered an iced tea and when Hotaru gestured through mime the absence of money in her pockets despite her growing thirst, was quickly reassured by her blue haired friend that Ami would happily cover the cost for her.

"She cares" Hotaru silently remarked as she nervously asked for a pumpkin latte.

The two girls went to a table in the empty establishment in a corner far from the windows so that they could have a greater degree of privacy for what they both knew would be an intellectual debate not many people would take interest in.

"So, what did you want to talk about Hotaru?" Ami eventually asked after the two girls had taken a few sips of their respective beverages relishing in the sweet and refreshing flavours of professionally prepared and slightly overpriced caffeinated beverages. "Is something bothering you?"

It took Hotaru a few seconds to reply as she once again looked down at the table in shame with a trembling body and lips.

"Ami. Do you think. Do you think I'm evil? That I don't deserve any kind of friendship with anyone and that the whole world would be better off without me?"

Ami's soft smile seemed to transform into an incredulous gasp as Hotaru continued despite the evident difficulty in forcing each word out.

"Do you think I'm a mistake? And that in a way I'm a lot like, like Pinocchio. I shouldn't really even exist. I'm like a square in a box full of triangles. I'm like a light bulb that doesn't work."

It took a miracle for the dark purple haired girl not to cry as she finished speaking trying not to flinch too hard at the shocked reaction of Ami who had thus far listened respectfully in silence.

She had surprised even herself with the intensity of herself derogatory statements. But they were the only ones that could have described the sheer helplessness she had felt since the day her father had grown more distant to her since her mother's death and which had only worsened with Chibi-Usa's sudden disappearance from her life which had only just begun to show hopes of improving.

"Why would you think these awful things of yourself, Hotaru?"  
Ami asked, clearly tempted to make the question longer but just as quickly deciding against it.  
It was as if the blue-haired genius possessed some sort of mind reading power and knew there was more to Hotaru's still very uptight words and the question was simply as encouragement for Hotaru to speak more freely already.

Curiosity killed the cat they say. But Ami knew that this was more than just her friend's illogical and overdramatic insecurities at play.  
She knew she needed to get to the bottom of this mystery if it killed her.

This really was, for lack of better words, a matter of life and death.

Hotaru allowed herself to take one quick glance at Ami's completely sincere and supportive face before she continued. It was clear that Ami's choice of question had accomplished its goal of removing the remaining inhibitions still checking her words even as she was trying her hardest to confess everything honestly.

A quick breath.

"I feel that because of what happened to me when I was younger, no one can ever like me or even tolerate me. Especially with Chibi-Usa, my one friend gone.  
There's something really bad inside me and I can never really deal with it. It's, something evil that's growing inside me and it just keeps getting worse and worse."

She had to inhale and exhale briefly to keep speaking forcing back tears.

"When I was little, I was involved in a very serious lab accident. One of my dad's experiments went terribly wrong and started a big fire. Mummy she"

A chocked back painful sob.

"She died. She died saving me from that accident. I just barely made it out alive. I had to have a lot of very painful operations and even now, I don't feel I've ever fully recovered.  
I get tired more easily than other people do and…"

It took another trembling glance at Ami Mizuno's sympathetic bright blue eyes and another glance around the room to check that they were not being watched before Hotaru could bring herself to continue.

Rather than with words, the shaking girl shed a solitary painful tear as she pulled up the left sleeve of her black turtleneck to reveal a terrifying set of scars.

Her face was a twisted amalgamation of self-loathing, burning rage at the world and eternal regret which could never be overcome.

It took Ami all her willpower and concern for her friend to keep a straight face.  
Though the schoolgirl's subtle shrink back into her seat spoke volumes of the terrible fear this unworldly and terrible image had caused her.

"It left me with these scars. Ever since I got these scars, no one ever wanted to be my friend ever again."

Hotaru's voice had devolved to a steadier monotone, exhaustion and grim resignation resonating in every word.

"Now everyone thinks I'm a monster. Now people run away from me when they see me and even when I try to do nice things for them, they still can't stand me.  
But that's not all.  
Ever since that… accident, I've found I can do things no normal person should be able to do.  
I can heal people's injuries. People show me a cut or bruise and when I use this strange power I have; their cuts and bruise disappear like magic.  
But even when I do that, people still don't like me.

"After the accident my life has become a lot more dangerous.  
These big scary monsters keep trying to come after me but then I point my hand at them, and they explode in a bright flash of light.  
But when I look again, they're not there anymore. It's like I made them vanish into thin air like they were never really there at all.  
And I know, this all sounds completely unbelievable, but I promise, I'm not crazy, I'm really not"

Oh, Hotaru if you've only seen a fraction of the crazy things me and my friends have seen, Ami remarked to herself as she continued to listen respectfully in silence.

Of course, she believed the troubled girl's testimony to the letter. It explained so much. Like why the number of hostile demon's her team and her had to deal with seemed to be on the decline recently with seemingly no logical explanation.

"Sometimes I wonder what I've become. Am I really a monster? And sometimes I hear this scary voice in my head. Its like someone's trapped inside me and trying to get out but can't.  
This voice keeps telling me to do really bad things. Like killing everyone I care about because they don't care about me. It sounds more real each time and I think it's getting stronger. I don't know how much longer I can keep it under control."

Her eyes met Ami's as she straightened her slumped posture. Her next words would clearly be an ultimatum of some sort where the right or wrong answer could cost everything.

"Do you think, that I'm really evil Ami? That whatever happened to me when I was little has made it impossible for me to be good anymore. Because people don't run from good people. People like to be around good people and if no one likes me, then does that make me a bad person?  
Bad people go around destroying things At least that's what happens in the movies. Even though I don't know how I can do it, every time a big monster tries to come near me or my dad, I can get rid of it by just waving my hand. Just like that. I don't want to hurt them to but I just want to save myself and my dad and it's the only way I know how."

"So, what does that make me Ami?" Hotaru's eyes blinked rapidly and her eyes seem to fix even more intently into those of her friends as if trying to peer into Ami's very soul.

This was an answer for which she was clearly waiting with bated breath.

An answer which could destroy or resolve everything for her.

It surprised both girls how quickly the answer to the one-million-dollar question came. The only thing more surprising was how calm and composed the usually shy introverted A star student's reply came as if she were merely answering a test question that she had thoroughly revised.

Hotaru's mouth dropped open as Ami next spoke.

"No Hotaru. None of what you just said makes you a bad person in any way at all. If you were really a bad person you wouldn't be feeling this kind of regret, you feel now. You'd feel happy. You'd feel ecstatic and you'd want to use your powers more often and for selfish reasons. You wouldn't have tried to find me to get help."

"I don't understand" Hotaru could only belatedly reply, unable to remotely comprehend any of what Ami had just said or why she was being forgiven so easily for the atrocious sins she had committed.

"I can't speak for everyone and I know that. But at least in my own humble opinion, people aren't good or bad just like that. No one was born a good or bad person. You become good or bad over time because of the choices you make. It's your actions which make you who you are. And you are a good person Hotaru.  
You don't get angry at other people or treat them badly even when they don't treat you well and you try to take responsibility for everything even when it isn't your problem. That is one of the most selfless things anyone can do. "

"I don't think good and evil is as black and white as my friends want to make it" Ami continued, her tone completely solemn and sincere "You can be a good person one day when you save an injured person's life and then turn bad tomorrow because you robbed a bank.  
And even if you do rob a bank, your reason for doing it and how you do it can make the difference.  
There's a difference I think between a poor beggar who just wants two pounds to feed their starving family and a greedy millionaire who just wants more money because they don't want to work for it. You see what I'm saying right."

"I do" Hotaru agreed, a faint smile beginning to grace her usually sombre face. Hotaru's rare smiles were always a thing of great beauty and warmth begun to enter into Ami's heart.  
"You are saying that sometimes we do things for different reasons and sometimes we do things which seem bad but are still the best actions at the time."

"Exactly Hotaru. When you used your powers on those monsters, you only did it to protect yourself and your loved ones and only when it was clear they intended you harm with no escape. If you were using your powers the way the bad guys in films use their powers, then you really would be bad.  
But you don't and that makes you different from them."

"But aren't my powers evil in themselves? They probably came from one of those evil monsters which dad was doing his experiments on. They cause so much damage and they make me so dangerous to be around. How can anyone feel safe around me knowing I can blow things up so easily?"

Once again, the answer came in a clear and unbroken voice which sounded like a patient teacher explaining a difficult question to a troubled student behind in his studies.

"Do you think guns are evil Hotaru? When someone has a gun, all they need to do is press one button to kill and that makes whoever has the gun very powerful."

"Of course! So many countries would be better off if they just passed laws saying no one could use guns. That's no question." replied Hotaru almost impatiently like she took the question as an insult to her intelligence.

"But what about Switzerland? In Switzerland, every male adult gets given a free assault rifle for military duty. An assault rifle is this gun which fires bullets even more quickly than a lot of other guns which makes them a lot more dangerous. There, you can keep both the guns and bullets at home. So technically speaking there are more guns per city in Switzerland than almost any other country and yet that is one the safest places on Earth when you factor in their low crime rates. And think about it this way Hotaru. You don't need to fire a gun if you have it. And no one can make the decision to fire your gun except yourself. By itself a gun is harmless. It's only when a bad person starts being reckless with it that it becomes a problem. Guns don't kill people Hotaru, people kill people. And that's a fact you're not going to see a lot of people admit."

"I never thought of it that way" Hotaru murmured, astounded at such astute observations.

"A lot of things are good as a concept but bad if you misuse them. Science is a good thing unless you deliberately use it to cause harm. People who say science is bad because it was what created a lot of the deadly weapons, we have today forgotten that without science, we'd not have a lot of the modern comforts we take for granted like medicines and computers and electricity."

I see, Hotaru thought as the daunting visage of a maniacally grinning man clothed in an expensive lab coat with shining white glasses flashed before her.  
She had seen that man in her dreams many times.

"Your powers are not bad Hotaru."

"But they kill. And I've used them before to kill. And killing is a very bad thing to do."

"You didn't use them to kill. You used them in self-defence. Self-defence and killing are not the same thing. If you didn't kill those monsters, they would surely have taken the lives of you, your loved ones and other innocent people who also haven't done anything wrong. There is nothing you need to be ashamed about. You were only reacting to a bad situation out of your control in the best way you could."

It was as if a massive burden had been lifted away from the purple haired girl as for the second time that day, she smiled a little.

At least one person did not view her as a complete monster and that was more than she could ever have asked for.

This conversation wasn't over yet however. There remained a few questions which she longed to have the answers and it was only from a fellow intellectual that they could be received.

"So then. What makes a person really evil? Why is it in every conflict both in the real world and in films that there is always a "good" side and a "bad" side? Is the good side really much better than the bad side when it's trying to do the same thing by trying to destroy the bad side?"

"It is complicated" Ami briefly explained. "You're the first person I've ever talked to whose caught onto this. And I think that this alone makes you one of the kindest people I've ever met Hotaru."

"Thank you, Ami. But what do you think of that? Does the side wearing white clothes always have to be the good guys while the one with black clothes always has to be bad? Isn't black just another colour? And if it's as you said that I'm a good person, then doesn't this prove that not everyone with black clothes is bad?"

"More or less what you just said Hotaru. From my point of view, taking a life from anyone without a justified reason is bad. When you think about it when two countries for example go to war, the soldiers from both countries are taught to think that the other country is the enemy while their own country is the hero. I can see why they do this, since soldiers wouldn't want to fight otherwise but I still think it's dishonest and it needs to stop. So many countries, groups and religions nowadays want to get rid of everything that doesn't match their own visions and it's making everyone into selfish meanies.

The world didn't improve when people fought over different ideas, it improved when a group of people agreed to stop fighting and join their ideas together towards a common goal. It's what made the human race so powerful in the first place. Because they agreed to work together and form tribes which eventually became the countries we see today. When people fight, they actively go against what created the wonderful world they live in, they play against the strength of the human race.

You look and sound normal to people in your own country. But go to any other country and you look like a complete stranger. The same for people from the other country. So perhaps, no one is completely right or wrong. Perhaps everyone has part of the truth and only by joining those parts together can we find the whole truth. Perhaps different people were meant to be good at different things and no one can be best at everything by themselves.

When two countries or two sides fight each other, neither of them is better. Both just want to kill the other side and the other side just wants the same. The only possible endings are that either one side will kill the other one or both get killed. It's a lose-lose scenario either way. And it's why knowing how to fight well in my opinion is not enough to win in a war."

"So how do you win a war?" Hotaru asked, wondering why the girl she was talking to right now had not been given a Nobel Peace Prize or run for president yet. The crumbling country that was Japan needed her expertise and quickly.

"By negotiation" Ami declared, emphasizing the word Negotiation to stress its great importance. "Negotiation is a skill that is vital both in war and peace. Most wars happen because the negotiations failed. Because the two sides decided it would be easier to steal what they wanted by force instead of asking nicely.

But here's the catch. In a war it is impossible not to damage the valuables in the place you want to conquer. The longer the war goes on, the less valuable the place you're trying to take over becomes and the less workers there will be to work it since you killed them all.  
So you will finally win only to have nothing to take over because everything was destroyed.

But if both sides were able to come to an agreement, then there wouldn't even need to be a war.  
It's often the case that one side has something the other side wants but which it doesn't want. For instance, a country in a desert often has more oil than it needs but not nearly enough water. While the country in the mountains has more water than it could ever use but no oil to power its buildings.

And that is where the beauty of trading comes in. You get to give away things you don't even want in exchange for things you absolutely need. And to top it all off, you've made the other side very happy. When you trade, you can keep doing what you are good whether it's getting oil, water or food. You can play to your strengths and your trading partner can cover up your weaknesses. It's a win-win. And no one has to get hurt.

And even in a war when you finally win, without a good deal to convince the other side that it would be better if they stopped fighting, they'll just keep coming at you with everything they've got.  
No one likes being declared the loser, much less leaving empty handed.  
But in a trade deal, every side can come to a good agreement where everyone gets something. And if a deal is unfair in any way, you can always just change it at the next meeting. You can't bring victims of a war back to life. And that's the reason why war is stupid and pointless for both sides"

"I hope I'm not boring you Hotaru." Ami apologetically said, upon seeing her friend begin to droop a little.

"Not at all Ami. What you're saying is very interesting and I really want to hear more. The operations which my dad used to save me sometimes make me a little tired sometimes but it's nothing really. Please, continue. I really want to hear more."

Ami allowed herself a gentle little grin of great satisfaction. As much as she valued her friends and fellow Sailor guardians there was a strange sense of gratification in finally finding a fellow intellectual who enjoyed these more difficult topics with her.  
Finally a partner to match wits with.

"The interesting thing about our society even today with all its improvements, is the idea that it's not how you win but if you win. This is a dangerous fallacy. There exists a type of victory called a pyrrhic victory and sometimes, that can be worse than losing.  
As I previously explained, you can win a war only to find nothing to conquer. Well there are plenty of those cases in real life.  
I have read about and met loving parents who worked their life away to improve their career… only to lose the family they were working for and have only themselves left to blame.  
I have read life stories where athletes broke their bodies trying to get a trophy.

And as for me, there've been times where I spent so much time trying to get the perfect score in the next exam that I made my friends feel like I didn't like them anymore. Where great opportunities for me have flown past me because I was so fixated on the exam. Where I woke up the next day with red eyes. And just for ten extra marks in one exam that weren't needed for me to get a pass anyway."

"That sounds terrible" Hotaru could not help but utter.

"Believe me it is. This open and shut way of thinking is a very bad problem which is only getting worse and worse. People are trying harder and harder to get quick fixes which don't really do anything much in the long run and it's dangerous. An open-heart surgery for example is expensive, painful and very risky and yet people would rather do that than do a few minutes of exercise every day and eat less junk food. They overdose on antidepressant tablets instead of trying to have a proper conversation or taking a relaxing break with their family and friends. My mum has had to deal with a lot of these patients in her hospital and from what she tells me, it's horrible."

"Do you like Superhero shows Hotaru?" Ami suddenly asked, looking Hotaru straight in the eyes with great sternness.

"Of course. Though I can't name any as my favourites, they really are a good way to pass the time when dad's busy with his experiments again." Hotaru was almost amused at Ami's seriousness at such a trivial question. "What could be cooler than watching batman beat up the Joker again"

"Well I unfortunately don't." Ami replied, clearly not taking the subject in a joking manner. "I think, they are a very misleading way to teach morals to children. If the "good guy" on any show wins by shooting a "bad guy" then kids can learn that they can get away with acts of violence and bullying as long as they think they are a good guy. And as I previously stated, we need to avoid violence whenever possible but by keeping kids in front of these misguiding programs, we are doing the exact opposite just because we as parents can't find the time or effort to be good and proper role models for our children."

You Ami would have made an excellent parent to me. I would have given you the parent of the year award in an instant Hotaru mused to herself.

"Not everyone wearing black is bad, and not everyone wearing white is good. That in the real world is what is known as racism, a problem we like to think we moved past long ago but clearly haven't. But that's basically what kids learn when they see things like the Jedi fighting the Sith and it needs to stop."

Darn right It does, Hotaru thought to herself as she looked down at her black jumper and the scar on her arm. Those scars were things beyond her control and yet everyone who saw them immediately freaked out and ran from her.

And yet society still has the gall to suggest that it preaches love and tolerance…

"Which brings us to our final point of the day. The root of just about all our problems both literally and figuratively speaking. The one vital skill that even today we often neglect."

"And what's that Ami?" Since the beginning of this deep and meaningful talk, Hotaru had felt better by the second. The dark and otherworldly presence inside her had seemingly weakened bit by bit as the conversation went on and it had become so faint by now that she was beginning to wonder if it was even still there.

"To put it simply, we often cure the symptoms but rarely the disease"

"I'm not sure I follow"

"Well let me give you an example then. Say two countries Rome and Greece are next to each other. Greece is richer than Rome and as a result is more popular. Now Greece secretly extorts a lot of money unfairly from Rome which is actually what is making Rome poorer and Greece richer.  
So one day, Rome gets to its whit's end and declares war on Greece in a justified attempt to free itself from these unfair taxes. But because everyone likes Greece more because it has more money to supply more trade routes, everyone sides with Greece and also declares war on poor innocent Rome.  
In short, everyone only cares about who started the war and not what actually caused the war.  
They were too busy looking for a scapegoat to actually search for the real problem.

And this is precisely why I think crime is still so high. The police are too busy trying to arrest as many criminals as they can to actually look at why there are so many criminals in the first place.  
If you look at a lot of crimes like stealing and selling drugs, you will find that neighbourhoods where they happen in are very poor. And with no better jobs to turn to, these people turn to crime.

Which is the same problem with some laws. They actually hurt rather than help the cause. Some drugs are indeed illegal but all that does is create a booming black market for them run by dangerous criminals and gang which are too powerful for the police to take on.  
And arresting a gang doesn't work since the market for drugs is still there and another one will come and take its place. The same with guns."

"And Hotaru" Ami continued, sounding sheepish all of a sudden. "There is something I think you should know. Something I was wondering whether to tell you but which I think you should know. And please don't think that I'm crazy either."

"I'm listening" Hotaru said with perhaps more excitement than necessary.

Ami glanced around once more to check that no one was watching before leaning forward a little.

"Hotaru. Is it true that you were attacked several times by those monsters you told me earlier about."

A nervous but curt nod from the dark-haired girl who seemed surprisingly calm.

"And that you indeed used your so-called powers to stop those monsters by destroying them."

Another nod.

It was here that Ami begun to launch into a brief but informative description about how she and her friends represented a group of super-powered freedom fighters known more commonly as "the sailor guardians".  
Ami told Hotaru about how the monsters she had encountered were better classified as demons or youma's and that they were generally too strong for an ordinary human being to take on alone.

"Yes. Chibi-Usa told me about you and your group of friends before she left. She told me to keep it a secret but that as a true friend, I deserved to know the whole truth.  
You're sailor Mercury aren't you. And your element is water."

"Wow, those two had a closer bond than I thought. No wonder Chibi-Usa's departure caused this poor girl so much grief" Ami remarked to herself. She winced a little at the thought of what else Hotaru had already been told.

One of the biggest problems with Sailor Pluto's future prophecies was that they were too often half complete and thus only half true.  
And it went without saying that misinformation was worse than no information at all.  
Ami was only glad that Hotaru had come to her first upon realizing her deadly powers and not the other sailors.

Their reactions would have been a lot less favourable.

"Yes. That's me. My powers aren't very powerful compared to the rest of my team but they can still do a bit. Mostly I'm just a scout to scan the enemy's weaknesses and provide a diversion while the others do the main fighting."

"Right."

"I'll tell you the rest later, if you can just come to my house. We shouldn't really be talking about these things out in public (Or at least that's what Sailor Moon our leader says)"

"That's completely fine, Papa won't mind too much if I don't come home today since he mentioned he would be busy with another experiment. We can go now if you want."

The two girls placed their now empty mugs onto the collection rags and exited the café hand in hand.

And as two new but already very close friends continued down the empty but still idyllic city streets as a pleasant breeze caressed their faces, Ami turned to regard Hotaru with a reassuring smile.

An unusual sensation of warmth filled her heart as for the third time that day, Hotaru smiled back.

The dark and mysterious power was still inside her but for the first time in her life, she felt its hold over her weaken. Ami's trust in her and their conversation as friends had clearly repelled it back and though Hotaru knew it was still not completely banished, the presence was for now content to linger and observe rather than to keep trying to break out.

Admission really was the first step to recovery.

"And Ami?"

"Yeah."

"Do you believe in destiny. That when someone has a destiny, nothing they do can change it." 

"Of course not Hotaru. The only people who say that just don't want to take responsibility for their own faults or can't be bothered to try and make a change. There is no destiny. No prophecy.  
Just our own good and bad decisions. I became Sailor Mercury because I chose to in order to protect my friends. And you chose to come to me today because you believed in me. These are our choices. Not fate."

_And here we come to the end of our first chapter.  
See I always find it ironic in a lot of films when heroes preach love and tolerance, and yet don't give any of it to people on the other side. It really just comes off as two faced and a double standard.  
I would have written more but I decided it would come later in the next chapter and I wanted to have something to release. _

_A lot of the time, the heroes talk about how they're going to "eradicate evil" but has it occurred to them that that is exactly what the villains want to do to them as well. And that if the hero doesn't want to die, why should the villain want to die either?  
So in many ways, the hero winds up being no better than the villains they fight against._

_Not just Sailor moon but a lot of shows have this problem. _

_The problem that love and tolerance only applies to your own people but not to anyone else. So people from other planets, countries or races don't matter._

_I also think that Ami and Hotaru would have made good friends in the series. They are both quiet introverts who both try to look for kind and nonviolent solutions to a problem and prefer to try and analyse the situation before trying to run away like Usagi, or trying to charge in headfirst like Rei._

_Both of them are also very clever for their ages so I think they would have made good friends._

_So yeah, please review and I'll catch you guys in the next chapter. Bye bye. _


End file.
